The Cotter School Board approved a proposed classroom realignment during a three-hour meeting Thursday evening. The proposal is part of the district’s master plan, subject to approval by the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation.
Board members Allen Franks, Luke Walker, Jimmy Morgan, Donald Marler and Robert Benedict were in attendance for the session.
In presenting the master plan, Superintendent Vanessa Thomas Jones reported the major need at the school campus is suitability with the district’s increasing enrollment.
Current enrollment exceeds the state’s projected enrollment numbers for the 2021-22 academic year. New projections are anticipated to show a continued increase in enrollment over the next 10 years.
If the district’s plan is approved, the high school would be expanded with classrooms, along with science and special education. These projects would provide for a realignment of the seventh and eighth grades and allow for a move of fifth and sixth grade classrooms.
The district would repurpose a 1977 metal building to house prekindergarten, allowing for expansion in the elementary school.
In addition to the proposed middle/high school building addition, capital projects in the plan include a possible solar farm and a new prekindergarten at Gassville.
In other business, the board gave its approval to a plan resulting in elections to be held for all five of its single-member zones to comply with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act at the May 2022 annual school election. The zone plan is subject to final approval by the Baxter County Board of Election Commissioners. The board’s actions included approval of a map showing the boundaries of the five district zones.
The five zones shall have substantially equal populations, with boundaries based on the most recent available federal decennial census information. A number of school districts in Arkansas are taking similar action following the results of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Approval was also given for the purchase of 175 Chromebooks at a cost of $51,138.
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